I have a 13yo girl, a 14yo boy, and a 16yo girl. I also have a 17yo girl living here. The older girls understand about performing femininity, and performing sexuality. They know what messages they are sending (in the eyes of the world, not me) if they choose to wear daisy Dukes with their arses hanging out. These are usually accompanied by duck pouts that would put Candace off BakeOff to shame, and a wee top and squeezing together your tits so you look like a 90s wonderbra ad. The message that women are to be ogled at, and their worth judged by just how fuckable they appear is not news to anyone who lives in the twenty first century.
Yes, I applaud grown women who choose to fuck with this message. To show off their bodies and get righteously angry at anyone who treats them like an object. No woman should be treated like a sex object because she has her legs, arse or tits on display. And frankly, it goes without saying that no one gets raped because of whatever bits of body they happen to have hanging out at any given time.
But I know that there is a world of difference between the reaction I get from passers-by, men in vans, construction workers, or frankly anyone, in my mid40's sensible mom jeans and sweater, than any female younger than 30 in arse-cheek shorts. The gals here are all dancers - they aren't prudes about their bodies - they are strong powerful machines that they use in their art, and they frequently run about in skintight leotards, hot pants, sequins, and full stage make-up (no, I had never really considered putting false eyelashes on a 13yo either, but it's perfectly normal round here). These are all full on sensible teenage girls who are not advertising their bodies as fuck objects. But if they go out on the street like that, no one is clapping and saying 'you gals were awesome', they get reams of unwanted attention from arsehats who, frankly, see them as fuck objects.
Is this their problem? I mean, clearly, it's society's problem - it's not their fault that the entire social convention dictates that 'young woman in full slap with her arse out WANTS YOU TO LOOK AT HER' and apparently, wants you to leer, remember all the porn you watched last night, and pass comment on her arse and tits.
But really, it IS my daughter's problem. The reality of the patriarchy means that women are still objectified, and if they dress with their body parts hanging out, society assumes they are doing it because they want the attention. At 13, girls have got the message that THIS is what they are supposed to do - they are supposed to dress provocatively, in tight revealing clothing - they see their role models doing it every day, and the fashion mags advising them - but they have not yet deconstructed why this is problematic. Once they understand, and are prepared to backlash against the full weight of society that tells them they are inviting sexualised attention (which is their job - clever society that we train girls to hang their arses out and judge themselves by how fuckable they are and then complain when they do) it is up to them how they dress.
I actually don't care what my kids wear. But I care if they do not fully understand why young girls are taught to wear teeny tiny shorts and their male equivalents aren't. And I care if they are following the 'you must dress sexy' diktats of the patriarchy without deconstructing for themselves whether they actually want to, or whether they just feel pressured to in order to conform (back to shaving legs again).
Part of parenting teenagers is enabling them to make their own choices. In letting 13yo girls go out without any understanding how these choices will be read by society, and whether they understand the choices they are making, we are doing them a disservice. Of course we don't want to prematurely sexualise children (prematurely being redundant, obvs) but most feminists understand the concept that making choices in a vacuum isn't free choice. Once you understand that you will be vilified if you don't shave your legs, it's up to you. Once you understand that you will be treated as a fuck object in teeny tiny shorts, it's up to you. Subvert away. And I applaud you. Hopefully society will change over time.
And frankly, this whole thread makes me lol. Please someone post a whole load of those hairy arsed blokes wearing arse shorts to consolidate the fact that no teen boy is ever going to be treated in the same way as a teen girl for wearing them, and the fact that equality was even raised as an argument in this thread is beyond ridiculous. If anything, it consolidates the fact that they aren't really appropriate for anyone!!